2003 was the year of the turnaround for regional theater. And I’ve got the odometer to prove it. At least 265 productions gave the area, on average, five new openings each week. Our Fall was the busiest one we’d ever seen: People were going out, seeing shows again. And a lot was worth seeing. For […]
Byron Woods
Bio: Byron Woods is the INDY's theater and dance critic.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/byronwoods
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In simultaneous theater, dance and spoken word
If you’re out and about for Raleigh’s First Night celebration, keep an eye out for the unusual suspects from regional theater and dance. The award-winning Paper Hand Puppet Intervention entertains the kids from 3-5 p.m. that afternoon at Bicentennial Plaza, before spinning potent metaphors that night on the 200 block of Fayetteville St. Mall from […]
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Too right feet
Toteboard ready? Check. Running shoes on? Check. American Dance Festival One Can’t Eat Applause, Compagnie Maguy Marin Marin’s Scripps Award acceptance speech Maguy Marin’s first act of artistic conscience indicted U.S. complicity in the politics of disappearance and the economic and political exploitation of Central and Latin America. Then her bold Scripps speech advocated dance […]
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Tammy Faye bites her tongue?
As a publicity and marketing coup, having Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Bakker) host Drag Bingo’s opening night at the Durham Armory seemed, well, heaven-sent. But some of the former televangelist and pop icon’s recently stated–and unstated–views on homosexuality and gay marriage raise significant questions about her true opinions on the gay community. After drawing capacity […]
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Creating art and community
It’s a narrow, rented space, a partitioned segment of a hotel ballroom at the southern edge of Research Triangle Park. Plush yet anonymous, and designed so that the detritus of business meetings can be efficiently swept and wiped away without a trace, it’s hard to imagine anything ever taking root here. Still, something is beginning […]
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NC/NYC:
The scheduling was sheer serendipity–but the kind of coincidence that gets your attention when glancing at a season schedule. Two shows which originated in this region were slated to open the same week in New York City, one on Broadway, the other one off. Wilder, a musical written by then-Duke playwright Erin Cressida Wilson and […]
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Late Harvest
It’s been good seeing apples, squash and pumpkins brightening up the local farmers markets of late. But the harvest I’ve really been waiting for is just getting underway this week, as the area’s major academic and independent dance groups begin to bring forth their season’s bounty. The dance programs at N.C.S.U. and Meredith College start […]
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In coolsville
Last we heard, fast-talking swing-age big band crooner and alleged former gangster Johnny Dellaroca (whose list of known aliases include “Big Daddy Cool” and “John Pyka”), had reached an understanding with those former, um, associates of his in the Syndicate. Or maybe he just did one of those magic stunts of his–the kind of disappearing […]
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In crossover dreams
Doris loves to sing, which is fine with her folks–as long as those songs are church songs. But when this minister’s daughter in 1940s New York City dreams of singing onstage at the Apollo, worlds collide. The musical Mama, I Want to Sing (pictured right) is based on the real life story of soul singer […]
Posted inArt
Raising voices, changing fortunes
How did they dodge the bullet? Back in March, arts organizations in North Carolina were staring at funding cuts in the high six figures for fiscal 2003-04, as Gov. Mike Easley tried to slice his way out of an $800 million deficit in the state budget. Easley’s proposed budget called for total cuts of $665,000 […]